


A Long Way Down

by KCKenobi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Whump, BAMF Anakin Skywalker, BAMF Obi-Wan Kenobi, Broken Bones, Carrying, Eventual Fluff, Gen, Hurt Anakin Skywalker, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hurt/Comfort, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi Whump, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Serious Injuries, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26816281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KCKenobi/pseuds/KCKenobi
Summary: “Stay with me, okay?” Anakin pulled himself up a particularly hard patch of rock, grunting with the effort. “Stay with me. You’re doing great.”He felt the rope go taut, and realized Obi-Wan had stopped somewhere below him.“Hey,” Anakin said. “We have to keep going. Like you said, the longer we—”“I—I can’t.”—Obi-Wan and Anakin scale the side of a cliff. But battered and bruised, Obi-Wan can’t hang on much longer—and it’s a long way down.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 68
Kudos: 589





	A Long Way Down

“Obi-Wan, answer me honestly. Can you do this?”

Anakin stood at the foot of the cliff, staring up at the wall of stone and dirt before them. The rendezvous point was a few hundred meters up—and with both their comlinks busted, there was no telling Cody to meet them elsewhere.

He cursed under his breath.

Obi-Wan had been sitting up against a rock—he’d collapsed there as soon as they’d stopped running, fairly certain there were no droidekas behind them anymore. But now he stood, pushing himself first to his hands and knees before slowly, excruciatingly, rising to his feet. Anakin didn’t miss the flicker of pain across his face as he tried to put weight on his right leg—then again when he shifted it to his left.

“Given the circumstances,” Obi-Wan said with a wince, “I believe that’s an irrelevant question. I _have_ to do this.”

“Can you even walk?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Maybe we can find another way—"

“No,” Obi-Wan said, and the sharpness in his voice didn’t match the pallor of his face, the tremble in his hand as he ran it through his hair. “We have to climb. Any other way and we risk capture, and the Republic needs us to return with the holodisk. The mission—"

“I’m not worried about the mission. I’m worried about you.”

Obi-Wan exhaled, and Anakin wasn’t sure, but he thought he caught the slightest eye roll.

“And that, my friend, is your greatest failing,” he said, but when Anakin looked up, his eyes were warm. “But also your greatest strength.”

To that, Anakin said nothing—just looked hard at Obi-Wan, studied his features like he’d never seen them before, like he’d never see them again. For a moment, he relived the moment he’d pulled Obi-Wan out from the explosion debris. How at first he hadn’t found a pulse, hadn’t felt a breath against his hand. And now, he could read right away the pain Obi-Wan tried to hide—the lips pressed tighter than usual, the deeper creases between his brows, the way his chest rose and fell with very controlled breaths, as if he were working hard to keep his lungs from shuddering.

Even so, they didn’t have a choice. Obi-Wan was right—they had to climb up the cliff if they wanted to get out of this alive. So with a long exhale, Anakin reached into his utility belt for a coil of rope.

“Here,” he said, throwing it to Obi-Wan. “Tie this around your waist and hips and knot it in the front. Like a harness, see?”

Obi-Wan fumbled with the rope in his unbroken arm, so Anakin helped him loop and tie it. When he was certain Obi-Wan was secure, he stepped back and fashioned a harness for himself.

“Well,” Anakin said as he tied the final knot around his thigh, “I hope you’re not afraid of heights. ‘Cause here goes nothing.”

“You have the holodisk?”

Anakin patted his pocket. “Right here.”

“Don’t lose it. All that Separatist intel—”

“Oh, spare me the lecture, would you? It’s not my lightsaber. I promise I’ll hang onto it.”

Obi-Wan smiled a little, though it was tight and weak. “Please do. And while you’re at it…” He picked up the end of the rope dangling from his waist, and tossed it to Anakin. “…better hang on to me, too.”

Anakin hooked their harnesses together, double checked every knot and clasp. And then, that was it—there was nothing left to do now.

Nothing, except the impossible.

There were cliffs like this on Tatooine. As Anakin dug his toes into the first foothold, he remembered climbing Beggar’s Canyon once, when Kitster got his drone wedged up between the rocks. But with every new handhold, with every push as he propelled himself upward, Anakin felt the pull of gravity. Felt like it got stronger the higher they got, like it was dragging them back to the cracked and dusty ground. He didn’t dare look down. But when he heard the fast and shallow breathing from behind him, Anakin called over his shoulder.

“You alright back there, Obi-Wan?”

“Fine,” came his quiet reply. Then, with a bit of a shaky laugh, added, “just don’t let go.”

“I’m never letting you go.”

“Well, that might be a bit drastic.”

“He says while scaling a cliff with a sprained ankle and broken wrist.”

“You forgot the ribs and the torn ACL,” Obi-Wan said with a grunt. “But you know. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Kriff, you think you tore it again?”

He grunted again. “Felt it pop.”

Anakin cursed under his breath. The surgery last time had been brutal—even with bacta and a healing crystal, Obi-Wan hadn’t been able to walk unaided for a month. “If you weren’t already on death’s door, I think Vokara Che would kill you herself.”

“Anakin, I’m not on—"

The words choked off as Obi-Wan let out a sharp gasp, followed by a cry.

And Anakin felt Obi-Wan fall.

The rope harness did its job—Anakin‘s skin burned as it dug into his waist and legs, as he took on all of Obi-Wan’s weight. But he hadn’t been expecting it, and for one brief, terrible second, Anakin felt himself about to slip. His knees buckled, his fingers shook. Obi-Wan was swinging below him, and each movement tugged the rope against Anakin’s body, tugged him downward, toward demise. And for a moment, there was nothing else—just Anakin clinging to his handholds and footholds, just the Force swelling around them as he tried to help Obi-Wan grab the wall again, just Obi-Wan’s groan as he failed. 

And Anakin wondered, not for the first time, if this was how it ended. And he was glad that if it was, at least Obi-Wan was with him.

But then he heard a triumphant shout from below, and felt the rope go limp between them, and he heaved such a hard sigh of relief that his breath stirred up dirt in his face.

“Obi-Wan—”

“I’m okay,” came the weak reply. “I’m okay.”

Anakin twisted his neck, looking below to where Obi-Wan clung to the cliff. And right away, he caught the flash of red trickling down the side of Obi-Wan’s face.

“Your hit your head—”

“Just a scratch,” Obi-Wan said, but when he exhaled, it was shaky. “Let’s keep going.”

“Are you—”

“Anakin.” He wasn’t looking up. “Please. The more time we waste…”

His voice trailed off, and for a moment, Anakin thought he was talking about the mission again. But then he registered the strain in Obi-Wan’s voice, the way his eyes were squeezed shut and his arms were shaking as he clung to the handholds. And he realized, then, that Obi-Wan hadn’t been talking about the mission at all. Because the more time they wasted here…

Anakin gulped _. The less likely he’ll be able to hold on._

“Okay,” he said. “We can do this. Ready? It’s gonna be fine.”

Obi-Wan didn’t answer.

This time, they climbed in silence—there was no banter, no words exchanged. Nothing but the sound of Obi-Wan’s shaky breathing behind him, a reminder that they were running out of time.

Anakin was grateful for his prosthetic, as the fingers on his other hand flared with pain each time he grabbed a new stone. For some reason, the sight of their red, raw skin brought a memory to mind—Obi-Wan, wrapping his hand in gauze after a kitchen disaster. He’d been twelve years old, trying to make his master a surprise cup of tea, when he’d burnt himself pulling the boiling water off the stove. Obi-Wan had come running, ran Anakin’s fingertips under cold water, but his calm voice soothed the blistering skin more than the faucet ever could.

Now, there was no cold water, no tea or memory. Nothing but the stone in front of his face, and the ground far, far below.

And then, Obi-Wan’s shaky voice, saying:

“Anakin, I feel like…I feel like I might pass out.”

Anakin stopped climbing.

“You can’t,” he said, stupidly. “I mean…kriff. _Kriff_. How hard did you hit your head?”

“Hard.”

“Are you—”

“I’m dizzy,” Obi-Wan said, his voice growing harder to hear. “And…I don’t…I’m not sure I can…” Anakin looked down, to where Obi-Wan’s arms trembled with the effort of holding on. “How close are we?”

“Almost there.” It was a lie—they were only just half way. “You’re doing so well. You’re going to make it.”

“Anakin, listen. If I go down—”

“You won’t.”

“If I do,” Obi-Wan said, his tone pointed and steady, “you need to cut the rope.”

Anakin felt as if the force of gravity had doubled.

“No. I’m not letting you go.”

“You must. You’re strong, Anakin, but not strong enough to climb the rest of the way with me dangling from your waist like an anchor. I’ll drag you down.”

“Then we go down,” Anakin said. “Together.”

The silence that followed was charged—Anakin knew Obi-Wan wanted to argue, but likely didn’t have the strength. Anakin felt the rope between them quiver as Obi-Wan inhaled very slowly, and released it with a shudder.

They kept climbing.

Anakin wished he could climb blind, so he could keep an eye on Obi-Wan. He settled for looking below every few paces, in spite of the nausea that climbed his throat when he looked down at the ever-shrinking ground. He held his breath each time Obi-Wan’s good arm slipped, each time his ankle turned and he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut.

“How we doing down there?”

Obi-Wan made a vague noise in response.

“Stay with me, okay?” Anakin pulled himself up a particularly hard patch of rock, grunting with the effort. “Stay with me. You’re doing great.”

He felt the rope go taut, and realized Obi-Wan had stopped somewhere below him.

“Hey,” Anakin said. “We have to keep going. Like you said, the longer we—”

“I—I can’t.”

Anakin’s heart plummeted down to the bottom of the cliff. “Yes, you can. We’re three-quarters of the way. Breathe, Obi-Wan. Just a little farther, and then Kix will wrap you in so much medical tape you won’t know up from down—”

“No, I…” Obi-Wan started. “My foot slipped. My ankle’s pinned between the rocks.” He grunted, then exhaled. “I can’t move.”

And really, that would’ve been an issue in and of itself—had the Separatists not chosen that exact moment to appear at the foot of the cliff.

Anakin sensed blasterfire before he heard it—felt the tensity of the Force, felt electrons buzzing through the circuits of the droids down below—and had just enough time to yell, “head’s up!” before the first blaster bolt struck just above him.

“Move!” Anakin said.

“Trying,” Obi-Wan snapped back.

The droidekas at the bottom of the cliff had deadly aim. Only by the Force was Anakin able to dodge left and right while holding firm to the handholds, fearing one false movement would send them both tumbling. But Obi-Wan was compromised. When the first blaster bolt soared toward his head—

Anakin inhaled sharply as Obi-Wan just managed to slide out of the way.

With the hand that wasn’t clinging to the cliff, Anakin ignited his lightsaber. He managed to deflect one or two of the shots back down at the droidekas, but not enough. The shields held firm. It would’ve been easier to disable them with two lightsabers, but they didn’t have two—only one of Obi-Wan’s limbs was in good enough shape to wield the blade, and if he dared let go of the rocks—

_Boom_.

A bolt struck somewhere at Obi-Wan’s feet. The blast sent debris skittering to the ground, sent dust and dirt floating into the air and blurring their vision.

But then Obi-Wan cried out, “Move! Move! My foot is free.”

And Anakin didn’t need to be told twice.

He climbed one-handed now, lightsaber deflecting by sense alone as they climbed. Dirt and debris rained down on top of them.

And then Anakin sensed it. The next shot, seeming to move in slow motion up from the droidekas, would strike Obi-Wan right in the head.

He had just enough time to yell, “no!”

Just enough time to throw his lightsaber like a boomerang and slice the blaster bolt away. He pulled the blade back to his palm, exhaling.

But in his moment of short-lived relief, Anakin didn’t see the second blast bolt coming.

It struck Obi-Wan in the back. He cried out.

There was silence.

“Obi-Wan!”

“Keep going,” came the reply. “The disk—”

“I don’t care about the disk. Now, here’s what we’re going to do—climb next to me. Side by side, instead of single file. I’ll cover you.”

“You need to cover yourself—”

“ _Obi-Wan_ —”

Another blaster bolt struck by Anakin’s head, and he coughed as he inhaled debris.

Anakin kept deflecting the shots until Obi-Wan was there—climbing beside him, huffing and puffing and biting his lip as though he’d scream if he didn’t. And so together, they kept climbing.

Except the shots were coming faster. Anakin looked down.

The droidekas were climbing the cliff behind them.

“Kriff,” he muttered. “They’re coming for us.”

“Stay focused,” Obi-Wan murmured through tight lips. “And Anakin, if—"

“Would you stop with the _if’s_? We’re almost there. You’re gonna be fine.”

“I—”

“Hold on,” Anakin said.

Because the realization dawned on him.

The droidekas were moving. And if they were moving…

“Their shields are down,” he said. “They’re vulnerable.”

Obi-Wan sucked in a short breath as he pulled himself up with his broken wrist. “You won’t be able to knock them out with one deflected shot.”

“No,” he said. “But maybe…”

Anakin powered down his lightsaber and hooked it to his belt. Then, he raised his empty hand toward the droidekas, drawing upon the Force.

“Anakin…”

“Just give me a second,” he snapped. “I’m gonna try to—”

“ _Anakin.”_

And then he froze. Because Obi-Wan’s voice was high and tight and cracked, and just when he turned to look—

Obi-Wan slipped.

And Anakin watched himself lose him.

He didn’t have more than a second to see Obi-Wan’s head smack against the stone, to hear the choked cry and the gasp of strangled air that followed. Because then, Obi-Wan’s weight suddenly too much to bear, his own fingertips were ripped away from the stone.

Anakin fell.

He was vaguely aware of shots buzzing past his ears, of debris cracking against his shoulders and scraping his face. But all he was really conscious of was the grasping, _grasping_ , as he desperately searched for something to hold on to. He called on the Force to slow their descent, but even so, even so—

They seemed to be falling _faster_.

When Anakin finally did grab onto a ledge, the sudden stop and Obi-Wan’s weight were enough to rip his shoulder from its socket. He cried out, every ligament burning, his skin scraped and torn. The sudden pain sent black spots leaking into his vision, and for an endless moment, Anakin thought he’d lose consciousness. But no—there wasn’t time. Instead, he pulled himself up and found a place to put his feet, ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder.

He exhaled.

“Obi-Wan.” A blast bolt lodged itself in the rocks beside his neck. “Hey—”

He looked down. Obi-Wan had managed to find a handhold, but only one—he hung onto the cliff with one arm alone. His face was caked in dirt and dust and blood, his bottom lip tucked inside his mouth as though it were the only thing preventing him from crying out.

“Hey,” Anakin said, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. “We’re okay.”

“Anakin—”

He dodged a blaster bolt.

“We didn’t fall that far. We’ve got what, fifteen meters to go?” Anakin said. His voice was tight as a wave of pain shot through his upper back. “Let’s just keep climbing, and I’ll try to take out the droidekas—”

“Anakin, no.”

Obi-Wan’s whole body shook with the effort of holding on. But he opened his eyes and looked up. Looked Anakin straight in the eye.

“You need to cut the rope.”

“No.”

“I just took you down,” Obi-Wan shot back. “And I’ll do it again. I can’t keep this up much longer.” He tried to dodge an incoming blaster bolt, but it skimmed his leg anyway. He sucked in a breath. “Anakin, listen to me. I’m going to fall. The turning point of the war is presently in your pocket, and you need to keep going.”

“No. I won’t—”

“ _You need to let me go!”_

The sound of blasterfire was growing louder, nearer, as the droidekas gained ground. They were taking a zigzag pattern up the rocks, but that seemed barely to slow them down. Another shot just barely missed Obi-Wan, singeing his tunic sleeve.

“You’ll be okay,” Obi-Wan said between ragged breaths. “Without me. You are strong and wise—”

“No. Stop. I’ll carry you if I have to—”

“And I’m proud of you, Anakin. I’m proud of you.” Obi-Wan swallowed, and though the effort made him wince, his eyes were somehow soft. “But you need to let me go, now. Cut the rope.”

“I won’t.”

“Well,” Obi-Wan said. And slowly, his broken arm moved to his belt. “Then I will.”

He ignited his lightsaber.

Anakin didn’t even realize he was screaming until the sound ripped from his throat. And then he was reaching out, helplessly trying to prevent the inevitable, crying and trying to pull Obi-Wan up from his end of the rope. But he couldn’t do it with just one arm, and the droidekas were still firing, and his whole body felt as though it had caught on fire, and Obi-Wan, _Obi-Wan—_

“ _No!”_

His blade was a breath away from slicing the rope when they both heard it.

An engine.

Wind.

And a familiar voice, shouting, “Hang on, Generals!”

Obi-Wan lowered his blade. Anakin’s eyes ripped away just in time to see what he decided right then was the best sight he’d ever seen in his life.

“Cody!”

The Commander was leaning from a transport ship, flanked by a few shinies, his armor glinting in the blinding light above. He cranked a lever, and down came a rope ladder, blowing slightly in the wind as it dangled closer and closer to Anakin’s reach.

“We’ve got you, sir,” Cody called down. “Can you climb up the rungs?”

“I can,” Anakin yelled back. “But Obi-Wan—”

They both looked down in time to see Obi-Wan lift his legs out of the way of an incoming blaster bolt, only to be struck on the shoulder with a falling boulder.

“It’s bad,” Anakin called. “He won’t make it all the way up into the ship.”

“Then grab on,” Cody said. “Just grab on.”

Anakin did.

He hugged the rungs of the ladder as it trembled precariously, felt it move down lower to where Obi-Wan hung. And then, at last, they were there—at last, Anakin reached out and lifted Obi-Wan from under his arms, pulled him forward, anchoring them both to the ladder.

“Hey,” he said quietly, speaking into Obi-Wan’s shoulder as he held him upright, squeezing a hand gently on his arm. “Hey. I’ve got you.”

Obi-Wan didn’t reply, but with his unbroken hand, he squeezed back.

Cody piloted the ship higher, and the ladder dangled as it went. Until finally they cleared the top of the cliff, onto the plateau above, where the ground was flat and steady. The ladder lowered, and when they were centimeters from the ground, Anakin stepped off. He guided Obi-Wan off with him.

The moment Anakin let go of him, Obi-Wan stumbled to the dirt. He fell to his knees, then forward, rolling onto his back. Anakin knelt down beside him.

“You’re okay,” he whispered. “See, I told you you could make it, didn’t I?”

Obi-Wan’s eyes were squeezed shut, and he scrubbed his face with trembling hands. “Can I pass out, now?”

Anakin was so dizzy with shock and adrenaline, he nearly laughed out loud. “You have my permission.”

When he pulled his hands from his face, Obi-Wan almost looked like he could cry. “Good,” he said. “Because I don’t think I can put it off any longer.”

By the time Cody had landed the ship and taken out the last of the droidekas, Obi-Wan’s shaky breaths had started to come slower, steadier. Anakin didn’t move from his side until the medics emerged with a stretcher, and even then, he didn’t go far.

“Can you sit up, sir?” said the medical trooper.

When Obi-Wan just shook his head, they lifted him gingerly onto the cot. The movement made his face grow tight and his fists clench, and Anakin didn’t say a word when Obi-Wan squeezed his hand so hard, it was a wonder he didn’t need a second prosthetic.

He didn’t speak again until they were rolling him toward the ship. Anakin was trailing alongside, growing more and more cognizant of his own aches and pains, when Obi-Wan opened his eyes.

“I am, you know,” he said softly. “Proud of you.”

“Oh, stop that,” Anakin said. “That’s still your sense of impending doom talking.”

Obi-Wan managed a weak smile. “Well, even if it is,” he said. “You should know. There’s no one I’d rather have harnessed to my waist as we dangle atop certain death.”

“I guess you could say we’re joined at the hip.”

Obi-Wan groaned softly, what Anakin imagined might have been a laugh. “And that’s _your_ sense of impending doom talking. I get sentimental. You get cheesy.”

“You mean hilarious.” Anakin reached for Obi-Wan’s forearm—the only part of him he knew wasn’t too badly hurt—and squeezed again. “Now quiet and get some rest. And let the medics take care of you, okay? Don’t argue.”

“Cheesy _and_ bossy. Honestly, Anakin, who raised you?”

He was chuckling softly as they reached the boarding ramp. But just before they could board the ship, Anakin stopped—suddenly felt the need to look behind him, out into the chasm below.

It was vast and empty—like Tatooine in all its endless desert—with the cliff so sudden and steep it was a wonder they’d made it so far. But as Anakin looked out into the void, he found himself looking up instead of down. He stared out across the horizon, toward a sky that was pink now with a distant sun.

There were still battles to be won, of course—holodisks to deliver, missions to complete. There were still aches, and still fears. But for a moment, all Anakin could see was stillness. Only a sunset they almost hadn’t lived to see, and the mountains they’d moved to get there. When he turned back around, Obi-Wan’s eyes had fluttered closed. And there, all Anakin could see was stillness, too. Because they were okay. For now, they were okay.

And though there would certainly be new mountains to come, new cliffs and edges and dangers to face—for a moment, Anakin decided as he turned—he was free from the fear of falling.

Anakin started up the boarding ramp after Obi-Wan, tethered by the light.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m kind of mixing and matching my whumptober prompts, so this one was inspired by no. 7 “I’ve got you” (sub-prompts of support and carrying) and no. 12 “I think I’ve broken something” (sub-prompt of broken bones)! As always, comments and kudos always appreciated 😊 Thanks for reading!
> 
> my SW Tumblr: [ kckenobi ](https://kckenobi.tumblr.com/)


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